Des Plaines Mayor Rethinks Election Bid

When a bid for support to make his job full-time lost by a ratio of nearly 3-1 last week, Des Plaines Mayor Michael Albrecht may have lost more than a potential $49,000-a-year raise.

Albrecht said he is not sure whether the non-binding referendum was a measure of his popularity, but he will be more cautious in governing and in deciding whether to run for re-election next year.

``If I would have to make a decision today, based on what happened,``

Albrecht said, ``I would probably not run again.`` He went into office in 1989 saying he wanted to be mayor for a long time.

Throughout the campaign, supporters of a full-time mayor said that issue was not related to or specifically designed for Albrecht. But the campaign for approval of a full-time mayor was run by Albrecht`s standing organization, known locally as the A-Team.

His supporters are not taking the defeat personally.

``I`m sure there were some people who voted against the full-time mayor because they wanted to vote against Mike, but I`m sure most people voted that way just because they wanted a professionally trained city manager running the city,`` Ald. Tom Christiansen said.

Members of Citizens for Responsible Government, an ad hoc group that formed to put the issue to voters, heard a different message from the advisory vote. Asked whether the job of mayor should be part-time, 10,003 voters said yes to 3,520 who said no.

``It`s really a clear signal that people do not like what`s going on,``

said Ald. Mary Childers, a consistent foe of the mayor`s City Council bloc.

Both sides agree that the vote will diminish Albrecht`s role in the decisions of the city.

Albrecht said he will be spending less time on his job, leaving more of the decisions to City Manager Larry Asaro. Childers said city workers will now see that they are accountable to the council, not just the mayor.

The referendum is the answer to a 20-year debate over whether the town should be led by an academically trained city manager or by a home-grown, elected mayor.

The referendum vote kills the issue, Ald. Nick Chiropolos said.

``I`m certainly not going to bring it up again,`` Albrecht said. ``That`s what the system is about. The people have spoken, as they say, rather loudly.``

The issue was put on the ballot by Citizens for Responsible Government, which said it was unfair and illegal of Albrecht`s supporters on the council to raise the mayoral salary to $55,000 from $6,000 last August without voters` consent. The raise would have taken effect with the next mayoral term.

Des Plaines has gone back and forth on the question of a full-time or part-time mayor several times since 1972. But the only real action was a 1979 non-binding referendum in which voters defeated a part-time plan.

Then, in 1981, candidates ran on platforms calling for a full-time or part-time mayor. The part-time advocate, Jack Seitz, won and changed the position and salary after he was in office, an action that Albrecht said was illegal.

The issue was complicated when the city hired an administrative assistant and later the city manager in the 1980s.